Laser Spinning of Nanotubes: A path to fast-rotating microdevices

We show that circularly polarized light can spin nanotubes with GHz frequencies. In this method, angular moments of infrared photons are resonantly transferred to nanotube phonons and passed to the tube body by "umklapp" scattering. We investigate experimental realization of this ultrafast rotation in carbon nanotubes, levitating in an optical trap and undergoing mechanical vibrations, and discuss possible applications to rotating microdevices.Comment: 4 pages, 3 Postscript figure

On tidal capture of primordial black holes by neutron stars

The fraction of primordial black holes (PBHs) of masses $10^{17} - 10^{26}$ g in the total amount of dark matter may be constrained by considering their capture by neutron stars (NSs), which leads to the rapid destruction of the latter. The constraints depend crucially on the capture rate which, in turn, is determined by the energy loss by a PBH passing through a NS. Two alternative approaches to estimate the energy loss have been used in the literature: the one based on the dynamical friction mechanism, and another on tidal deformations of the NS by the PBH. The second mechanism was claimed to be more efficient by several orders of magnitude due to the excitation of particular oscillation modes reminiscent of the surface waves. We address this disagreement by considering a simple analytically solvable model that consists of a flat incompressible fluid in an external gravitational field. In this model, we calculate the energy loss by a PBH traversing the fluid surface. We find that the excitation of modes with the propagation velocity smaller than that of PBH is suppressed, which implies that in a realistic situation of a supersonic PBH the large contributions from the surface waves are absent and the above two approaches lead to consistent expressions for the energy loss.Comment: 7 page

Survival of interacting Brownian particles in crowded 1D environment

We investigate a diffusive motion of a system of interacting Brownian particles in quasi-one-dimensional micropores. In particular, we consider a semi-infinite 1D geometry with a partially absorbing boundary and the hard-core inter-particle interaction. Due to the absorbing boundary the number of particles in the pore gradually decreases. We present the exact analytical solution of the problem. Our procedure merely requires the knowledge of the corresponding single-particle problem. First, we calculate the simultaneous probability density of having still a definite number $N-k$ of surviving particles at definite coordinates. Focusing on an arbitrary tagged particle, we derive the exact probability density of its coordinate. Secondly, we present a complete probabilistic description of the emerging escape process. The survival probabilities for the individual particles are calculated, the first and the second moments of the exit times are discussed. Generally speaking, although the original inter-particle interaction possesses a point-like character, it induces entropic repulsive forces which, e.g., push the leftmost (rightmost) particle towards (opposite) the absorbing boundary thereby accelerating (decelerating) its escape. More importantly, as compared to the reference problem for the non-interacting particles, the interaction changes the dynamical exponents which characterize the long-time asymptotic dynamics. Interesting new insights emerge after we interpret our model in terms of a) diffusion of a single particle in a $N$-dimensional space, and b) order statistics defined on a system of $N$ independent, identically distributed random variables

Single-File Diffusion of Externally Driven Particles

We study 1-D diffusion of $N$ hard-core interacting Brownian particles driven by the space- and time-dependent external force. We give the exact solution of the $N$-particle Smoluchowski diffusion equation. In particular, we investigate the nonequilibrium energetics of two interacting particles under the time-periodic driving. The hard-core interaction induces entropic repulsion which differentiates the energetics of the two particles. We present exact time-asymptotic results which describe the mean energy, the accepted work and heat, and the entropy production of interacting particles and we contrast these quantities against the corresponding ones for the non-interacting particles

FPGA-based module for SURF extraction

We present a complete hardware and software solution of an FPGA-based computer vision embedded module capable of carrying out SURF image features extraction algorithm. Aside from image analysis, the module embeds a Linux distribution that allows to run programs specifically tailored for particular applications. The module is based on a Virtex-5 FXT FPGA which features powerful configurable logic and an embedded PowerPC processor. We describe the module hardware as well as the custom FPGA image processing cores that implement the algorithm's most computationally expensive process, the interest point detection. The module's overall performance is evaluated and compared to CPU and GPU based solutions. Results show that the embedded module achieves comparable disctinctiveness to the SURF software implementation running in a standard CPU while being faster and consuming significantly less power and space. Thus, it allows to use the SURF algorithm in applications with power and spatial constraints, such as autonomous navigation of small mobile robots

From Usability Studies to User Experience: Designing Library Services at the University of Kansas

The University of Kansas (KU) Libraries first made their discovery tool, Primo (Ex Libris), available to their users in the fall of 2013. Since that time, in spite of many upgrades and improvements, most librarians and library staff are still not using the tool for their own research. Last year, librarians from KU presented their findings at the Charleston Conference using a survey given to KU librarians that asked them to compare Primo to Google Scholar and their favorite databases. Librarians were asked to compare the three and make recommendations for improving Primo. This year, KU librarians designed a much briefer survey and asked all library staff to participate, including student assistants. Library staff were asked to use Primo to conduct research on a topic of their choice and use all aspects of Primo to find relevant results. They were then asked to describe what they used in Primo to lead them to helpful information resources and rank the first 10 results from their final search. The purpose of this survey is to discern how our colleagues use Primo and how successful they are in retrieving the information they need when using this search tool. This study will help KU Libraries develop training for library staff in the use of this new mode of discovery and access. The search terms used in this study will also be useful in helping the discovery implementation team recreate the searches to test Primo in the future, after scheduled upgrades, in order to detect noticeable improvements or problems with the search results

Vacuum as a less hostile environment to entanglement

We derive sufficient conditions for infinite-dimensional systems whose entanglement is not completely lost in a finite time during its decoherence by a passive interaction with local vacuum environments. The sufficient conditions allow us to clarify a class of bipartite entangled states which preserve their entanglement or, in other words, are tolerant against decoherence in a vacuum. We also discuss such a class for entangled qubits.Comment: Replaced by the published versio

Eclipsing Binaries Showing Light Time Effect

Four eclipsing binaries, which show apparent changes of period, have been studied with respect to a possible presence of the light time effect. With a least squares method we calculated new light elements of these systems, the mass function of the predicted third body, and its minimum mass. We discuss the probability of the presence of such bodies in terms of mass function, changes in radial velocity and third light in solution of light curves.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table, conference proceeding